Jacks have scores to settle in Montana

John Stiegelmeier addresses his team before a recent practice.(Photo: MZ)

BROOKINGS -- John Stiegelmeier admits it. His memories of Washington-Grizzly Stadium are not pleasant.

The 25,000-seat stadium in Missoula, where South Dakota State will open the FCS playoffs against the Montana Grizzlies Saturday, is also where they made their Division I playoff debut in 2009.

The Jackrabbits had leads of 17-0 and 48-21 against the undefeated Grizzlies. They lost.

Montana closed the game on a 41-0 run, scoring 34 fourth-quarter points to knock out the Jacks 61-48. Like this week's matchup, the game fell on Thanksgiving weekend. It was a rude welcome to the world of the Division I playoffs for SDSU.

"It just played out so perfectly for us initially," Stiegelmeier said of the first half of that game. "But, being in the playoffs for the first time, maybe we didn't handle it well. They got hot, and we couldn't get a first down. We couldn't get a yard, really, and they couldn't get any less than 10. It got away from us fast."

The Jacks are 0-7 all-time against Montana, including three meetings at the FCS level. The Jacks lost 7-0 to a 4th-ranked Grizzlies team in 2005, a game played in front of 23,086 fans, and 36-7 to a 6th-ranked Montana squad the following year in front of 23,498.

But SDSU's struggles in Missoula go back even further than that. Stiegelmeier remembered the 1993 season opener, when he was defensive coordinator for the Division II Jacks. They led the Division I-AA Grizzlies by 28 points at one point before ultimately losing 52-48.

He quipped to a Montana reporter this week that his pre-game speech will be, "Don't get up by 25."

But ultimately the Jacks have been focusing much more on themselves this week than their opponent. For one thing the Grizzlies don't appear to be the national championship contenders they were when SDSU last visited – they're a mere 7-4 on the season and needed to rally down the stretch to reach the playoffs after a 4-4 start. The Jacks are 8-3, but coming off a loss to Western Illinois that cost them a seed and first round bye in the playoffs.

SDSU still held out hope on selection Sunday they'd be able to get a seed, or at least a home game, and when they did not, the hangover from Saturday's loss seemed to extend another day. For the Jacks to make a run in the playoffs, they have to be able shake off the disappointment.

"It definitely hurt on Sunday, knowing if we'd won we'd be a top-8 seed," said senior tight end Cam Jones. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We're completely focused on Montana."

That's the standard answer, but you didn't have to be a psychologist to see that the Jacks were still down on Sunday. Stiegelmeier certainly saw it, so rather than trumpet clichés about moving on, he and his staff have looked for ways to use the disappointment.

"We talked about it as a staff – who doesn't think about it?," Stiegelmeier said of the loss to WIU. "Who can control their thoughts like that? So what do you do? You use it as motivation. When you have to think about it – when (the loss) comes back to you, you have to make sure it's driving you.

"Our practice (Tuesday) was an indication we've moved on," the coach added. "I was looking for that and I saw it."

The Jacks say they'll be using more than just the loss to the Leathernecks as motivation. They're ranked higher than the Grizzlies, have a better record and play in what's widely regarded as a better conference (Southern Utah won the Big Sky, and SDSU beat them 55-10). The only reason this game is in Missoula is because of the hosting bid the Grizzlies were able to post.

And the entire Missouri Valley Football Conference was slighted to a degree as well. While the league got five teams in the playoffs, all five are on the same side of the bracket. The winner of this game will face North Dakota State in Fargo.

"You've got to beat the best to get to the national championship," said senior guard Taylor Bloom. "We'll be ready to go."